Andrade and Downs score early wins
Light Flyweight: Luis Yanez over Jerail Singleton by RSC-3... Luis Yanez, the Pan American games Gold Medalist continued to tear up his domestic competition en route to another stoppage. He lands with very heavy hands and doesn’t respect his opponent’s punching power so his bouts have exciting action and many eight counts. After sending Jerail Singleton backwards with a series of hooks resulting in the referee’s count, Yanez jumped back into action with a combination that would end the bout at the ref’s discretion. Yanez will fight Diego Hurtado tomorrow.
Bantamweight: Ronny Rios over Samuel DiPace, 41-27... The bout began with both fighters standing directly in front of one another and matching each other blow for blow. Tight defense deflected many punches but Ronny Rios landed the more solid blows while Samuel DiPace’s missed their mark more often. Rios would score two standing eight counts. Lots of clinching and referee warnings as the action was very close in fighting, a phone booth type match. The bout was a crowd pleaser with an intense finish.
Bantamweight: Roberto Marroquin over Sergio Perales, 26-25... This was a battle of two Texans who both scored single point upsets on day one. Both fighters had sizable contingents in the crowd. Roberto Marroquin had a height advantage over the southpaw Sergio Perales, who would circle his opponent who kept his back to the center of the ring. Perales used good counterpunching to bloody Marroquin’s nose in the second round. In the third, Marroquin wobbled Perales and the match intensity went up a notch. In the fourth, Perales seeing blood and sensing Marroquin tiring slightly in a very tight contest closed the fight by throwing tons of punches for a great finish. Marroquin and Rios will face each other tomorrow.
Bantamweight (challengers bracket): Gary Russell, Jr. over David Clark, 25-7... This matched the two upset victims from day one. Both fighters were very cautious in the first round, sizing each other up. The second half of the fight saw more free swinging hooks which mostly missed or were deflected. The key was counterpunching and Gary Russell showed he was superior to David Clark in that regard as well as showing great elusiveness after finishing his punch combinations. Russell must now battle his way through the Challenger’s bracket to make it into Saturday’s final.
Lightweight: Jerry Belmontes over Mason Menard, 31-14... Jerry Belmontes is proving to be one of the top fighters at 132 pounds. Both fighters had good crowd support being from the surrounding regions. Displaying superior defense and movement, Belmontes opened a big lead over Mason Menard and cruised to victory. He will face Sadam Ali tomorrow.
Light middleweight: Keith Thurman over Boyd Melson, RET-2... Keith Thurman continues to be the buzz of the tournament with his exciting style. Rarely throwing a jab, he prefers to use timing to rock his opponents and did so again today stopping Boyd Melson, the 2004 World Military Champion after two rounds. Melson circled and stayed out of range in round one. Thurman stopped his perimeter travel in round 2 with two left hooks. Now with his opponent in front of him, Thurman rocked his foe with a big punch and Melson held on trying to avoid hitting the canvas. As soon as the referee called for action to resume, Keith timed a straight left which landed flush resulting in an eight count just before the bell ending round two. Melson’s corner opted to end the fight before round three.
Light middleweight: Demetrius Andrade over Charles Hatley, RSCO-3... This was one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament pitting the 2007 Pan American Games Silver medalist, Demetrius Andrade against the 2007 U.S. Championships winner, Charles Hatley. As soon as the cowbell (yes this is Texas) rang to signal the bout’s commencement, it was non-stop action. Hatley was initiating the encounters, but Andrade was much more effective blocking most shots and landing many clean ones of his own. As the cowbell rang to end the round, neither fighter wanted to stop and they went face to face jawing at each other before the referee could send them to their corners. Andrade built a 18-2 lead after the first round. The second round was much more cautious with Hatley looking to land from outside and Andrade patiently awaiting engagement. When the third round began, Andrade knew he only needed to land a few more punches to end the bout on points (a 20-point lead during any of the first three rounds results in an automatic victory). Aggressively taking the fight to his foe, Andrade unloaded a combination which brought the bout to an end. Andrade and Thurman meet tomorrow, while Hatley must battle his way back via the challenger’s bracket of this double elimination tournament.
Light heavyweight: Christopher Downs over Cymone Kearney, RSC-1... Christopher Downs' story is one for the movies. He represents the U.S. Army and served in Iraq. He’s both the oldest participant in the tournament and also the most inexperienced, yet he claimed a Bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American games. Thirty-four years old, and with only four years of boxing experience, Downs has come a long way in a short period of time. Almost immediately in the bout, Downs landed a HUGE right hand that dropped Kearney to the canvas. Cymone got up and the referee signaled for the bout to continue. Downs looked like a stalking lion and once he landed another big right hand, the referee stopped the bout while an upset Kearney protested. The ref could be heard saying, “After taking a shot that big, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I let you get hit again.” Downs will face a fellow huge puncher in Yathomas Riley tomorrow.
